Pamela Swett appointed dean at University of Rhode Island

“Pamela Swett, the dean of McMaster’s Faculty of Humanities since 2019, will be leaving McMaster to take on a role as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Rhode Island. “It has been my honour to serve McMaster in both academic and administrative leadership capacities,” says Swett. “I’m incredibly lucky to have worked with such a dedicated team of colleagues and a genuinely inspiring student community. We’ve accomplished a lot together, and I’m confident that the Faculty has a bright future ahead.” McMaster’s provost has initiated the Senate governance process, in consultation with leaders in the Faculty of Humanities, to appoint an acting dean. The acting dean will serve until a permanent appointment is made. Swett has been at McMaster since 1999, when she joined the Department of History as a faculty member, later serving as chair of the department from 2011 until 2017. From 2016 until her appointment as dean in 2019, she was the Faculty’s associate dean of graduate studies and research. Her contributions as dean include the creation of Inspiring Sustainable Futures, the Faculty of Humanities’ first-ever strategic plan, as well as the development and launch of significant programs including the Integrated Arts (iArts) program and the Bachelor of Health Sciences, Integrated Rehabilitation and Humanities program. Swett played a key role in securing the $50 million gift that created the Wilson College of Leadership and Civic Engagement , which welcomed its first cohort of undergraduate students in September 2025. She was also academic lead for the $6 million Future of Canada Project , an initiative that supported research and practice dedicated to the development of a more equitable, resilient and prosperous Canada. “Pamela has always been a powerful champion for the Faculty of Humanities, and a strong proponent of the value of a humanities education and scholarship, not just for the Faculty’s students, but for students and researchers across McMaster,” says Maureen MacDonald, McMaster’s provost and vice-president (Academic). “She has consistently demonstrated incredible dedication to student success, to creating an inclusive, welcoming and academically rigorous Faculty community, and to building bridges between different disciplines, and she will be greatly missed.” Under Swett’s leadership, the Faculty of Humanities has made concerted efforts to increase the diversity of its staff and faculty, with three-quarters of tenured, tenure-track and teaching-track academic hires going to members of equity-deserving groups between 2020 and 2024. As well, the Faculty’s support for and engagement in research has increased, including for the undergraduate student research awards program, a range of community-engaged projects, and the Research Time Stipend program for faculty members. During her first term as dean, Swett shepherded the Faculty through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, which included McMaster being fully online for much of 2020 and 2021. “The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated just how special this community is, with students, staff and faculty all showing tremendous flexibility and resilience in the face of unique hardships,” says Swett. “Despite the challenges of those first years as dean, though, I will leave McMaster with an overwhelming sense of gratitude and incredible memories.” During her tenure as dean, Swett continued her research activities as a specialist in the social and cultural history of Germany between 1918 and 1945. She is the author or editor of six books as well as many journal articles and book chapters. She has been awarded grants and prizes from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, the Alexander-von Humboldt-Stiftung, the Thyssen Foundation, the German Historical Institute, the American Historical Association and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. The post Pamela Swett appointed dean at University of Rhode Island appeared first on McMaster News .

Summary generated from the RSS feed of McMaster Daily News. All article rights belong to the original publisher. Click through to read the full piece on news.mcmaster.ca.